Dialect Emergence in Waumandee English

This book examines how a new dialect emerges. It is based on empirical research carried out in Waumandee, Wisconsin, a small community set in a linguistically uncharted territory in North America. Waumandee English is influenced by the native languages of settlers who arrived from different parts of Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Austria and Ireland. Traditional dialectology augmented by sociolinguistic and psychological parameters enables the reader to follow the path of current dialect emergence in Waumandee English.

The Author: David N. Ehrat studied English literature and linguistics, musicology and general linguistics at Zurich University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Zurich in 2005.